Sports Briefs

TAEKWONDO

At age 18, Jang Jun becomes youngest to win Grand Prix

Jang Jun won the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Russia on Sunday, becoming the youngest at 18 to win a gold in the event.

Jang took the Grand Prix title in the men’s 58-kilogram category after a series of overwhelming victories in previous bouts. The final round was a quick win for Jang; his opponent, Armin Hadipour Seighalani of Iran, withdrew from the final match.

“I am happy to win the same event that I lost last year in my first appearance,” Jang said after the bout.

Before Jang, the youngest practitioner to win the Grand Prix was Kim Tae-hun, who won at age 20.

Since he is currently ranked 17th in men’s 58-kilogram and the win gives him 40 points, Jang will likely move up to the top 10 in world ranking. The taekwondo athlete showed determination to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I narrowly lost to Kim Tae-hun to win the ticket for the Asian Games,” he said. “I will train harder to improve my physical strength to win next time.”

Yonhap

FOOTBALL

Lee scores first goal since joining Valencia CF Mestalla

Lee Kang-in of Valencia CF Mestalla scored his first goal with the senior club during a preseason match against Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen at the club’s home in Mestalla Stadium on Saturday.
Valencia won the match 3-0.

Lee, who was substituted into the match at the 78th minute, scored a header only eight minutes after he entered the pitch.
At age 17, Lee received a lot of attention in Korean football by joining Valencia’s youth academy in 2011. He has been moving up the ranks very quickly.

Last July, Lee was promoted to the Juvenile A team, and then in January, he was offered a professional contract and promoted to the Valencia B team. He played 11 matches and scored one goal in Segunda B.

From a successful youth career, Lee reached an agreement with Valencia CF to extend his contract to June 2022, with a termination clause of 80 million euros ($90 million).

After the signing, he made his first team debut on July 25 during a preseason friendly against Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport.

BASKETBALL

Knights re-sign Haynes,

confident he will recover
The Seoul SK Knights signed Aaron Haynes for another year on Friday.

“After a successful surgery in April, he is going through rehabilitation,” the Knights said in a statement. “He may not be in his best condition for the beginning of the season, but we think he’ll play just as well as he used to since he’s smart and gets along well with the players.”

Haynes joined the Korean Basketball League in 2008. Among foreign players, he is the leader in career scoring, at 9,628, and is ranked second in rebounds at 3,853.

Last season, Haynes led the Knights to a runner-up finish in the regular season with an average of 24 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, but a knee injury caused him to miss the playoffs.

By Kang Yoo-rim